S  B 


3D?    5M2 


WORKS 


AGRIC.  DIP  i 


FERTILIZING 


FERTILIZING  TOBACCO. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

GERMAN  KALI  WORKS, 

IV 

New  York,  N.  Y.  Baltimore,  Md.  Chicago,  III. 


NOTICE. 

Every  farmer  can  obtain,  free  of  charge,  a  copy  of  the 
following  agricultural  books: 

FARMERS'  GUIDE 

POTASH  IN  AGRICULTURE 

PRINCIPLES  OF  PROFITABLE  FARMING 

TRUCK  FARMING 

PLANT  FOOD 

THE  COW  PEA 

COTTON  CULTURE 

SUGAR  CANE  CULTURE 

SUGAR  BEET  CULTURE  ,fl  ^ 

TOBACCO  CULTURE 

TROPICAL  PLANTING 

VALUE  OF  SWAMP  LAND 

STRAWBERRY  CULTURE 

ORANGE  CULTURE 

WHY.THE  FISH  FAILED 

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State  whi eft  6£  the. 'above -mentioned  publications  you 
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ADDRESS: 

GERMAN  KALI  WORKS. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.     BALTIMORE,  MD.     CHICAGO,  ILL,     HAVANA,  CUBA 
93  Nassau  St.  Continental  Bldg.     562  Monadnock  Blk.     Empedrado,  30 


Fertilizing  Tobacco. 


TOBACCO  is  a  rank,  rapid  growing,  and  heavy-feeding 
plant,  and  requires  liberal  supplies  of  plant  food.  Th* 
careful  experiments  of  Dr.  Goessman,  of  the  Massachusetts 
(U.  S.  A.)  Experiment  Station,  and  of  Prof.  Stockbridge,  of 
the  Florida  Experiment  Station,  furnis-h  information  of 
great  practical  value  to  the  planter. 

As  a  result  of  these  investigations,  the  quantities  of 
Phosphoric  Acid,  Nitrogen  and  Potash  per  acre,  suggested 
by  these  two  authorities,  are  as  follows: 

PHOSPHORIC  ACID     NITROGEN       POTASH. 

Dr.  Goessman,  60  Ibs.          100  Ibs.        300  Ibs. 

Prof.  Stockbridge,  73  Ibs.          180  Ibs.        300  Ibs. 


Average  per  acre,  67  Ibs.          140  Ibs.        300  Ibs. 

A  mixture  of  600  Ibs.  of  high-grade  Sulphate  of  Potash, 
(96$),  850  Ibs.  of  Nitrate  of  Soda  and  550  Ibs.  of  Acid  Phos- 
phate (12$)  would  just  about  furnish  the  amounts  of 
Phosphoric  Acid,  Nitrogen  and  Potash  mentioned  above. 

The  plant  food  found  by  chemical  analysis  in  the 
tobacco  plant,  furnishes  a  fair  guide  in  determining  the 
kind  and  amount  of  fertilizer  to  use.  Of  course,  not  only 
the  leaf,  but  the  whole  plant  must  be  accounted  for  in 
figuring  out  the  actual  plant  food  taken  up.  While  the 
leaf  is  the  object  of  tobacco  growing,  the  leaf  cannot  be 

274392 


4  FERTILIZING   TOBACCO 

grown  without  the  stalk,  roots  ,etc,  The  analyses  of  the 
whole  plant  made  by  Prof.  Stockbridge  indicate  the  follow- 
ing plant  food  requirements.  He  found  the  average 
Florida  tobacco  plant  to  contain: 

PHOSPHORIC  ACID  NITROGEN  POTASH 

0.99  per  cent.  2.58  per  cent      4.34  per  cent. 

This  indicates  that  the  crop  requires  its  plant  food  in 
the  proportion  of  260  Ibs.  of  Nitrogen  and  440  Ibs.  of  Potash 
for  every  100  Ibs.  of  Phosphoric  Acid  actually  taken  up  by 
the  plant.  As  Phosphoric  Acid  is  apt  to  change  into 
insoluble  forms  in  the  soil,  allowance  must  be  made  for 
such  losses  in  making  up  special  fertilizers.  Again,  many 
soils  accumulate  supplies  of  Nitrogen  through  the  growth 
of  legumes  in  rotation,  and  a  too  free  supply  of  Nitrogen  in 
the  fertilizer,  may  prove  very  undesirable  by  inducing  a 
too  rank  growth  of  leaf.  For  these  reasons,  many  experi- 
enced tobacco  growers  use  a  higher  proportion  of  Phos- 
phoric Acid,  and  a  lower  proportion  of  Nitrogen  than  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  crop  would  seem  to  require. 

Prof.  Stockbridge's  recommendation  for  fertilizer  appli- 
cation is  based  on  these  conditions,  and  his  formula  sup- 
plies the  necessary  plant  foods,  (as  shown  by  the  analyses) 
which  will  be  removed  from  an  acre  of  land  by  a  fair  crop 
of  tobacco. 

The  conclusions  of  accepted  authorities  may  be  thus 
stated;  The  demands  of  the  crop  for  Phosphoric  Acid  are 


FERTILIZING    TOBACCO.  5 

small,  for  Nitrogen  they  are  large,  but  the  greatest  demand  is 
for  Potash,  in  fact,  greater  than  that  of  any  other  cultivated 
plant. 

The  general  rule  for  practice  for  tobacco  planters  to 
follow  may  be  stated  thus:  Nitrogen  4  to  6  parts,  Potash 
8  to  15  parts,  and  Phosphoric  Acid  i  to  3  parts. 

This  may  be  more  concisely  expressed  as  follows: 

Ammonia,  .  .  .  4  to  5  per  cent. 
Potash,  .  .  .  8  to  9  per  cent. 
Available  Phosphoric  Acid,  2  to  4  per  cent. 

Commercial  fertilizers  are  valuable  as  plant  food  onl) 
to  the  extent  that  they  contain  Nitrogen,  Potash  and  avail- 
able Phosphoric  Acid,  provided  always  that  proper  propor- 
tions of  these  ingredients  are  used.  An  excessive  amount 
of  any  one  of  these  three  plant  foods  in  a  fertilizer  will  not 
make  up  the  loss  caused  by  the  lack  of  either  of  the  other. 

The  sources  from  which  the  different  forms  of  plant 
food  are  obtained  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  affecting 
the  results.  In  selecting  Potash,  Sulphate  of  Potash  should 
always  be  applied;  that  grade  known  as  96$  Sulphate  of 
Potash  would  be  the  best  suited  for  the  purpose.  The 
forms  of  Potash  such  as  Muriate  of  Potash  and  Kainit, 
both  of  which  contain  large  quantities  of  chlorine,  should 
never  be  used  for  tobacco,  as  they  exert  an  injurious  influ- 
ence on  the  burning  quality  of  the  leaf. 

To  make  a  fertilizer  of  the  composition  recommended, 


6  FERTILIZING    TOBACCO. 

t 

that  is,  5$  of  Ammonia,  9$  Potash  and  4$  Available  Phos- 
phoric Acid,  which  is  a  well  balanced  mixture  for  tobacco, 
the  following  materials  can  be  used  to  make  a  ton. 

Cotton  Seed  Meal,  .  .  noolbs. 
Sulphate  of  Potash  (96$),  350  Ibs. 
Acid  Phosphate,  .  .  550  Ibs. 


2000  Ibs. 

As  to  the  amount  of  the  above  mixture  to  be  applied 
per  acre,  this  varies  in  different  countries.  On  an  average, 
though,  from  1000  to  1500  Ibs.  per  acre  could  be  used  to 
advantage.  In  Connecticut,  the  tobacco  planters  as  a  rule, 
use  as  much  as  3000  Ibs.  per  acre  of  a  fertilizer  of  even 
higher  grade  than  that  above  recommended.  A  little  experi- 
menting on  the  part  of  each  planter,  however,  will  soon 
indicate  the  amount  which  can  be  used  with  the  greatest 
profit. 


TOHACCO    UNFERTILIZED.       EXPERIMENT    FARM,    SOUTHERN    PINES,    N.    C. 


TOBACCO.    FERTILIZED    WITH    POTASH,    PHOSPHORIC    ACID    AND    NITROGEN 

(COMPLETE   FERTILIZER)— EXPERIMENT   FARM,    SOUTHERN   PINES,    N.    c. 


FERTILIZING    TOBACCO. 


Composition  of  Fertilizer  Haterials  Used 
as  Sources  of  Nitrogen. 


Nitrogen. 
Per  Cent. 

Equivalent 
in 
Ammonia. 
Per  Cent. 

Potash 
(K20.) 
Per  Ct. 

Phosphoric 
Acid 
Total. 
Per  Cent. 

Nitrate  of  Soda 

1  5  to  1  6 

18  to  ig-£ 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia  '. 

JO         22 

23  "  26 

Dried  -Blood  (high  grade)  .  . 

12         I2\ 

I4i  "  I7i 

Dried-  Blood  (low  grade). 

IO         II 

12  "    14! 

^    to  z 

Concentrated  Tankage 

II          14^ 

i3i  "  15 

I      "2 

Tankage 

5       6 

6  "  7i 

II      "     14. 

Tankage 

74       Q 

9  "  ii 

8A  "    ioA 

Dried  Fish  Scrap     '  . 

qi       ii 

ITi  "  i3i 

6     "    8 

Cotton  Seed  Meal  
Castor  Pomace 

6*       7i 
5       6 

8"  9 
6  "  7| 

Itf 
l£ 

2% 
2% 

Tobacco  Stems 

2       3 

24-  "  4 

5  to  8 

about  i% 

Composition  of  Fertilizer  flaterials  Used 
as  Sources  of  Phosphoric  Acid. 


Nitro- 
gen. 
Per  Ct. 

Equiv- 
alent in 
Ammo- 
nia. 
Per  Ct. 

Potash 
(K20.) 
Per  Ct. 

Phosphoric    Acid. 

Total. 
Per  Ct. 

Available 
Per  Ct. 

Insoluble 
Per  Ct. 

So.  Carol'a  Phos.  Rock 
So.     Carolina    Acid 
Phosphate  

26  to  27 

13  "  16 

33  "  35 

26  "  32 

14  "  19 
34  "  39 

14  "  19 

32  "35 
17  "  19 

20  "  25 
15   "   17 

10  "  15 

12   tO  15 

26  to  27 

I  "  3 

33  "  35 

26  "  32 

i  "  3 
34  "  39 

i  "  3 
32  "  35 

I    "   2 
15   "    17 
2   "   3 
2   "   7 

Florida  Land  Rock  .  . 

Florida  Pebble  Phos- 
phate 

[3  to  i  6 
13  to  16 

Florida    Acid     Phos- 
phate 

Tennessee  Phosphate 
Tennessee  Acid  Phos- 
phate   

Bone-Black  (spent).  .  . 

Bone  Black(dissolved) 

i  6  to  17 

5    "  8 
13   "  15 

8 

Bone-Meal  

2ito4i 
2  "3 
6  "  10 

3  to  5^ 

2*"34 

7i"i2 

Bone  (dissolved)  
Peruvian  Guano 

rito4 

FERTILIZING    TOBACCO. 


Composition  of  Fertilizer   flaterials  Used  as  Sources  of 

Potash. 


Pure 
Potash 
(K,0.) 
PerCt. 

Lime 
Per  Ct. 

Nitro- 
gen 
Per  Ct. 

Ammonia 
PerCt 

Phosp'ric 
Acid, 
Total, 
Per  Cent. 

Chlorine 
Per  Cent. 

Muriate  of  Potash  .... 

50 

AC.     tO    4.8 

Sulphate  of  Potash 
(high  grade)  

coto^5 

Q      <J      '  '      T       C 

Sulphate  ot  Potash 
Magnesia  

27  "30 

o  85 

I.c  "2.5 

Carbonate  of   Potash 
Magnesia  

i8)t 

Kainit  

I2f 

1.  12 

ao  "  72 

Manure  Salt  

2O 

4O  "45 

Cotton  -  Seed  -  H  u  1  j 
Ashes. 

20  "  ^o 

IO 

7  to  8 

Nitrate  of   Potash  01 
Saltpeter  

43  "45 

>3toi4 

16  to  17 

Wood   -  Ashes     (  un- 
leached)   

2  "8 

3oto55 

I  tO  2 

Wood-  Ashes  (leached 

I  "2 

35  "40 

I   tO  l£ 

Tobacco  Stems  

5  "8 

•3.5 

2  to  3 

2i  tO  -U 

Average  Composition  of  the  Host  Important 
Farm  Manures. 


FARM    MANURES. 

Nitrogen 
Per  Ct. 

Equivalent 
in 
Ammonia 
Per  Ct. 

Potash 
(K,0) 
Per  Ct. 

Phos- 
phoric 
Acid 
Total 
Per  Ct, 

Lime 
(CaO) 
Per  Ct. 

Cow-Manure  (fresh)..    . 

0-34 

0.41 

0.40 

o.  16 

0.31 

Horse-Manure  (fresh).  . 

0.58 

0.70 

0-53 

0.28 

O.  21 

Sheep-Manure  (fresh)  . 

0.83 

I.OO 

o  67 

0.23 

o-33 

Hog-Manure  (fresh).  .. 

0-45 

0.54 

0.60 

o..9 

0.08 

Hen-Dung  (fresh)  

1.63 

1.98 

0.85 

1-54 

o  24 

Mixed  Stable  Manure.  . 

0.50 

0.60 

0.63 

0.26 

0.70 

'iv  Yott 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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